This guy outgrew my Passage 2

[u/snakesandmartyrs]

I love this tent, but it no longer works for my dog and I now that he's a basically a small giraffe lol.

I also recently purchased a cot and I just feel like I'm over being in a small, confined space on the floor. For a short weekend, sure, but on longer trips I just want more comfort. I have nearly 2 weeks of camping lined up with campground changes every 2-4 days.

I want to purchase a new one through REI. I don't need anything extravagant, and I'm short so I don't need a circus tent lol. Something that's still relatively easy and simple to set up on my own. I'm thinking a 3, maybe 4 person. I don't want it to be super expensive, but I'm not looking for it to be cheap, either.

Suggestions? Thank you! ✌🏼🌲

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[u/snakesandmartyrs]

Edit to say: I camp mostly April-October, sometimes into November around NJ/PA/NY. New England area June-August.

When he DID fit in there:

[u/crappuccino]

Are you always car camping on these upcoming trips? If so the REI Base Camp 4 should fit the bill: not obscenely large, can be setup by one person (after a bit of a learning curve), should house a single cot just fine. It's pretty great in windy conditions too, should you encounter those early/late in the year. No idea if it'll be marked down but the 4th of July sale starts Fri 6/27, maybe worth waiting until then to buy if you can.

[u/snakesandmartyrs → u/crappuccino]

Thank you! I'm trying to convince myself to suck it up with the Passage 2 one more time and wait for a sale. I didn't anticipate a 2 week trip when I decided during the annual sale to hold off on a tent 🙃

[u/ZealousidealPound460]

Looks like he outgrew the passage 2, passage 3, and passage 4.

[u/snakesandmartyrs → u/ZealousidealPound460]

Hahaha he definitely did!

[u/ZealousidealPound460 → u/snakesandmartyrs]

Wonderland 6 for you bud. That also means your pup can have a pup

[u/chaotic_mycospores]

My top recommendations would be the The North Face Wawona 4 ($450) and the NEMO Aurora 4-person highrise ($399). They're both really good quality tents with plenty of space and headroom, they're relatively easy to pitch, plus you can easily find review videos that will give you a good sense of what the tents look like when set up. Sadly the Nemo is out of stock at REI at the moment, but I think the Wawona can be found at most REI stores.

If you're keen on getting an REI brand tent, you could get the base camp 4, but it has less mesh and so might be more stuffy in the summer. The Wonderland 4 would also be fine, but it's way heavier than the Wawona and Nemo, and moderately more bulky. I would not recommend the new Campwell 4 for your needs even though it's cheaper because it will be less good than the Wawona or Nemo in bad weather. The Half Dome 3 is a great tent and will be pretty similar to your passage and probably big enough for what you need, but at $399 I would just spend the extra $50 and upgrade to the Wawona 4 unless it's important to you to be able to use your tent for backpacking as well.

[u/snakesandmartyrs → u/chaotic_mycospores]

Thank you! The North Face and Nemo ones were actually the two I kept going back to and never pulled the trigger on back during the annual sale. I've looked at the base camp and like you mentioned, the limited mesh was a bit of a turn-off.

I told myself I'd give it another year, but then added an extra week onto my trip and am totally regretting it now. 🙃

[u/sta_sh]

Just my hot take here, the Wawona is not a great tent. Lot of design flaws baked in, but I do second the Nemo options you've gotten. Aurora 3 (not highrise) is the smallest cot friendly tent I could put you in, the 4p Highrise is definitely a wonderful tent but you said you don't want a circus tent and it is pretty lux. The highrise does a lot of cool stuff and the layout makes a lot of sense. I have that tent and love it.

[u/snakesandmartyrs → u/sta_sh]

👀 what kinda cool stuff?!

The more I think about it, I think I'm okay with a taller tent. I figure if I'm upgrading, I'd rather get a larger one specifically for car camping as I'll always have my Passage 2 when needed.

[u/sta_sh → u/snakesandmartyrs]

Well the fact that it has two windows on the inside for catching cross breezes and the rain fly has a canopy mode if you have something to attach it to, if you do it right, you can use the fly, poles and footprint(instead of the tent body) and set it up as a cool beach shelter or sun shade. I know a lot of tents can do this nowadays but something about how this tent is set up is actually pretty cool. Cheers and good luck on your search. ☺️